Drawing a parallel with the freedom struggle, Reddy recalled that the British authorities had imprisoned leaders including Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose. He argued that those arrests, too, had been made on flimsy grounds.
Reddy said the participation of large numbers of citizens, particularly young people, in the campaign for voting rights would strengthen the opposition’s resolve. Attempts to suppress the movement through arrests would ultimately reinforce it, he added.
Calling the BJP the “British Janata Party”, the chief minister said Congress and its allies remained determined to continue their struggle under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.
He also reiterated that Congress would pursue its campaign against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s functioning, regardless of arrests or imprisonment. The party, he said, would continue demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
With IANS inputs
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